A/N: Okay, so this chapter happens after a really long time skip. Don't get confused, I just wanted to have a realistic timeline in their relationship. Enjoy!
Many months had passed since the Friendsgiving celebration, though nothing of particular interest happened. Levi turned 28 on Christmas day and we had a celebration, but I remember nothing due to the hardcore drinking that occurred that night. I seem to recall that night ending with crazed sex which was probably more enjoyable than it should have been due to the excess of alcohol that both my boyfriend and I had consumed. Neither of us remembered what happened in much detail, but my limp suggested that something went on that was less than holy. We both agreed not to both drink that much again, for it was a little jarring for both of us to completely blank out on an entire night.
In March, I turned 22 and the crushing realization that I would have to start looking for jobs in my field soon was weighing down on me. When I started college, I had such a passion for breaking free of the cage of our world by studying the great black universe outside of our own tiny existence. Little did I know how daunting it would be. However, I was determined still to make it outside of the constricting atmospheric walls someday, or at least get humanity a step closer towards being able to explore all of the great unknowns that resided there.
Anyway, in May, the six-month anniversary of Levi and I's relationship was coming up, so I was heading to Levi's apartment with a plan. When I knocked at the door, he answered it with the ghost of a smile touching his lips and gave me a gentle peck. Though he was often brash, rude, and downright unpleasant to others – much to my friends' dislike – he did have a gentler, softer side which he showed more often than people thought. It was simply a matter of knowing the signs.
It was about noontime when I visited because I had to go into work at a coffee shop on campus that morning. We spent the afternoon snuggling up together watching terrible movies and making fun of them after eating a light salad for lunch. When six o' clock rolled around, I stopped him from putting on another movie.
"We're going out to dinner tonight for our anniversary, my treat," I informed him with a grin.
"Oh?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow. "Are you going to drive me there and pull out my chair for me and pay for it?" he went on sarcastically.
"If that's what you want, then I'll do it. But I'm paying no matter what you say."
"Oh, c'mon, babe. I was just kidding. Let me. I have the resources."
"And what makes you think that I don't?" I shouted.
"I'm not saying that you don't, I'm just saying that you could put them to better use than feeding me. You have college bills to worry about."
"So what? I can't do one nice thing for you without you complaining about it? Seriously, Levi! First, you have this secret past that I can't know about. Then you insist on everything being the way you want it. And you know what else, babe?" I spat with malice. "You don't even love me. Do you want to know how many times you've said that to me? Zero! You haven't told me that you love me. I tell you that almost every day and you don't even have the decency to let me know that you feel the same? Or don't you? Do you just lead me on for some ulterior motive? Do you have a piece on the side? Or two? Or five?"
Levi put his hand on my shoulder and opened his mouth to speak, but I stood up and flung his hand away. Tears were welling up in my eyes and spilt over when I spoke again.
"No. Don't even touch me. I don't care what you have to say. Just… Don't call me, don't look for me. Leave me alone!"
Levi shouted after me, but when I ran out of his home and slammed the door behind me, he didn't follow. I hopped in my car feeling destroyed emotionally and sat in the driver's seat for a while, sobbing with my forehead against the steering wheel, just praying that no one saw me. After staying in that position for a while, I decided to go to Ymir and Christa's place. They'd been together for a long time, so I figured they'd know what to do. I shot Christa a text saying that I would be coming over and that I needed them and immediately got a heart as a response, her way of letting me know that I was welcome with them and that she loved me. Smiling bitterly through my tears, I started the car and drove erratically to the other side of town, easily finding a parking spot in their garage and running up the stairs to the fourth floor. I only had to knock once for Christa to open the door. I didn't have to say a word for her face to drop. She knew exactly who was on my mind.
The short woman led me to a cushy armchair and fetched me some water and a box of tissues before sitting next to her fiancée on the loveseat across from me.
"So…tell us what's on your mind," she began, even though she knew the gist of the story already from how shitty I looked.
"Our six-month anniversary is coming up soon," I rasped. I couldn't go any farther than that without grabbing a tissue to wipe away the tears from my eyes. Both of them settled in at that point, because the explanation process was not going to be a short one.
After having thoroughly explained all of the things that had caused me to get so upset to the women, they paused and looked at each other, seemingly communicating with their eyes alone.
"And you're sure you don't want me to kill him?" Ymir finally asked. I just chuckled sadly in response and shook my head.
"Well then I think you should think about it this way: if you had some horrible past that scarred you badly enough for you to hate and distrust the majority of the human race, would you go around blabbing about it? And would you trust someone with your love? Because love is a very dangerous thing for people involved in certain shady businesses-" Ymir started, but I cut her off.
"What makes you so sure he's involved in illegal stuff?" I raised my voice again, feeling quite impatient.
"Let me finish. I was going to say that he's just trying to take care of you and look out for you. Even if he hasn't said that he loves you, doesn't the fact that he wants to take care of you and pay for you and do everything for you show that he does? Don't get me wrong, it's important to tell someone what they mean to you, but can you honestly blame him that he hasn't yet? He's obviously scared out of his mind and what you have to do is let him know that you accept him for all of his faults because you do love him. Give him time and space, but…I really think that you should give it another go." She smiled gently before continuing with a more upbeat tone in her voice. "Why don't we go do some karaoke tonight and drink our troubles away, huh?"
I nodded halfheartedly while Christa smiled softly and went off to get a comb from the bathroom.
"You can't go out looking like that, though. I'll clean you up while Ymir calls everybody up. We're going to have a good time whether you like it or not!" she expressed passionately. I chuckled at her ability to make any situation seem conquerable. Come to think of it, I also was quite thankful to Ymir for being bold enough to call me on how irrational I was being. Though her empathy was commonly overlooked, she had a very keen knack for reading people's emotions and responding in a way that was blunt, yet informative of what had to be done. I knew I was indebted to all of my friends greatly, but Ymir and Christa knew best what to do and say around me to help me with relationships. In the past, when I had simply picked up strangers in clubs for one-night stands constantly, they carefully consoled and comforted me when someone stole something from me, or when I had an STI scare. Luckily they also knew how to make me a better boyfriend, or else I'd be so screwed.
When it was time to go to the only karaoke place in town to drink and sing our hearts out, Christa and Ymir drove me there and told me that I could stay at their place that night so I wouldn't have to worry about taking a taxi home and picking up my car in the morning.
The place was shrouded in a dark blue light and there was a man appearing to be in his forties at the mic when we walked in at around ten. Armin, Sasha, Connie, and Jean were already seated at the table with fries ordered and the rest of our group of friends arrived in a steady trickle after we got comfortable. We kept a steady tab of French fries and beer open, replenishing our supply as soon as it ran low. We had a pact that, whenever we went to the karaoke place, everyone had to sing at least one song that night, so after everybody signed up for their songs, the air grew tenser with anticipation.
Ymir and Christa were up first from our party. They went up together and sang a nice-sounding, but predictable love song. Usually Ymir did a rap solo or something like that, but this time she actually sang with her fiancée. Connie, Sasha, Armin, Jean, Reiner, and Bertl sang songs that left no major impression on me. I wasn't listening, really. Mikasa sang I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor, which made me a little concerned for her, but she brushed it off as nothing when I questioned her. Annie sang Girls Just Want To Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper which was pretty entertaining considering her usually disinterested expression. Lastly, I sang Young and Beautiful by Lana del Rey, not because I particularly related to it, but because I knew I could sing it without sounding like a dying cow. When I left the stage to my friends and a few strangers clapping absentedmindedly for me, I felt a cold sweat coming on as I heard the person announce that someone named Levi would be singing next. How many Levis could there possibly be in this city? I hoped that it would not be my Levi, but my fears were confirmed when I sat down facing the stage and saw him approaching the microphone nervously. I looked on the screen and saw that he would be singing How Can I Tell You by Cat Stevens.
I panicked and looked to Christa and Ymir, but they just smiled knowingly at me and urged me to watch his performance. As soon as he opened his mouth to sing, I felt my cheeks go hot with tears that had spilled out onto them. When he looked across the crowd and his eyes fell onto mine, I felt them linger there for quite a long time before he finally moved on. When the song was over, I felt the stares of most people in the room boring into me before the room erupted in applause and cheers. I'm pretty sure Jean started it, but soon after that the room was filled with chants of 'kiss, kiss, kiss!' I wiped away my tears and stood up with shaking knees as everyone egged me on, my friends most passionately. Once I had finally reached the stage, my heart seemed to be pounding much louder than the cheers in the room. For a moment we just looked at each other. Levi's eyes asked me if I was okay with the situation, to which I pulled him in with more force than thought. The time seemed to pass by much too quickly, but Levi eventually pulled away and looked at me with soft eyes.
"I love you," he whispered.
"I love you too," I breathed, feeling slightly faint. He felt me loosen in his arms and gently supported me as we exited the stage. "Say…do you think I could stay at your place tonight?"
"Sure. Maybe soon it'll be our place."
A/N: Okay, so I included some more major conflict in this, but I'm building up to the Earth-shattering drama. Didn't want them to break up so soon. XD But seriously, I really tried to make them have a long fight, but for the sake of the flow of the story, I decided to have them make up kinda quickly so they could have more serious drama down the road instead of right off the bat. Tell me what you thought of the story, though (and what you think should happen next! Have a great day!